HTML: The Living Standard

Where phrasing content is expected.

Zero or more option, optgroup, and script-supporting elements.

Neither tag is omissible.

autocomplete — Hint for form autofill feature

autofocus — Automatically focus the form control when the page is loaded

disabled — Whether the form control is disabled

form — Associates the control with a form element

multiple — Whether to allow multiple values

name — Name of form control to use for form submission and in the form.elements API

required — Whether the control is required for form submission

size — Size of the control

interface HTMLSelectElement : HTMLElement {
           attribute DOMString autocomplete;
           attribute boolean autofocus;
           attribute boolean disabled;
  readonly attribute HTMLFormElement? form;
           attribute boolean multiple;
           attribute DOMString name;
           attribute boolean required;
           attribute unsigned long size;

  readonly attribute DOMString type;

  readonly attribute HTMLOptionsCollection options;
           attribute unsigned long length;
  getter Element? item(unsigned long index);
  HTMLOptionElement? namedItem(DOMString name);
  void add((HTMLOptionElement or HTMLOptGroupElement) element, optional (HTMLElement or long)? before = null);
  void remove(); // ChildNode overload
  void remove(long index);
  setter creator void (unsigned long index, HTMLOptionElement? option);

  readonly attribute HTMLCollection selectedOptions;
           attribute long selectedIndex;
           attribute DOMString value;

  readonly attribute boolean willValidate;
  readonly attribute ValidityState validity;
  readonly attribute DOMString validationMessage;
  boolean checkValidity();
  boolean reportValidity();
  void setCustomValidity(DOMString error);

  readonly attribute NodeList labels;
};

The select element represents a control for selecting amongst a set of options.

The multiple attribute is a boolean attribute. If the attribute is present, then the select element represents a control for selecting zero or more options from the list of options. If the attribute is absent, then the select element represents a control for selecting a single option from the list of options.

The size attribute gives the number of options to show to the user. The size attribute, if specified, must have a value that is a valid non-negative integer greater than zero.

The list of options for a select element consists of all the option element children of the select element, and all the option element children of all the optgroup element children of the select element, in tree order.

The required attribute is a boolean attribute. When specified, the user will be required to select a value before submitting the form.

If a select element has a required attribute specified, does not have a multiple attribute specified, and has a display size of 1; and if the value of the first option element in the select element's list of options (if any) is the empty string, and that option element's parent node is the select element (and not an optgroup element), then that option is the select element's placeholder label option.

If a select element has a required attribute specified, does not have a multiple attribute specified, and has a display size of 1, then the select element must have a placeholder label option.

The form attribute is used to explicitly associate the select element with its form owner. The name attribute represents the element's name. The disabled attribute is used to make the control non-interactive and to prevent its value from being submitted. The autofocus attribute controls focus. The autocomplete attribute controls how the user agent provides autofill behavior.

A select element that is not disabled is mutable.

select . type

Returns "select-multiple" if the element has a multiple attribute, and "select-one" otherwise.

select . options

Returns an HTMLOptionsCollection of the list of options.

select . length [ = value ]

Returns the number of elements in the list of options.

When set to a smaller number, truncates the number of option elements in the select.

When set to a greater number, adds new blank option elements to the select.

element = select . item(index)

select[index]

Returns the item with index index from the list of options. The items are sorted in tree order.

element = select . namedItem(name)

Returns the first item with ID or name name from the list of options.

Returns null if no element with that ID could be found.

select . add(element [, before ] )

Inserts element before the node given by before.

The before argument can be a number, in which case element is inserted before the item with that number, or an element from the list of options, in which case element is inserted before that element.

If before is omitted, null, or a number out of range, then element will be added at the end of the list.

This method will throw a HierarchyRequestError exception if element is an ancestor of the element into which it is to be inserted.

select . selectedOptions

Returns an HTMLCollection of the list of options that are selected.

select . selectedIndex [ = value ]

Returns the index of the first selected item, if any, or −1 if there is no selected item.

Can be set, to change the selection.

select . value [ = value ]

Returns the value of the first selected item, if any, or the empty string if there is no selected item.

Can be set, to change the selection.

The following example shows how a select element can be used to offer the user with a set of options from which the user can select a single option. The default option is preselected.

<p>
 <label for="unittype">Select unit type:</label>
 <select id="unittype" name="unittype">
  <option value="1"> Miner </option>
  <option value="2"> Puffer </option>
  <option value="3" selected> Snipey </option>
  <option value="4"> Max </option>
  <option value="5"> Firebot </option>
 </select>
</p>

When there is no default option, a placeholder can be used instead:

<select name="unittype" required>
 <option value=""> Select unit type </option>
 <option value="1"> Miner </option>
 <option value="2"> Puffer </option>
 <option value="3"> Snipey </option>
 <option value="4"> Max </option>
 <option value="5"> Firebot </option>
</select>

Here, the user is offered a set of options from which he can select any number. By default, all five options are selected.

<p>
 <label for="allowedunits">Select unit types to enable on this map:</label>
 <select id="allowedunits" name="allowedunits" multiple>
  <option value="1" selected> Miner </option>
  <option value="2" selected> Puffer </option>
  <option value="3" selected> Snipey </option>
  <option value="4" selected> Max </option>
  <option value="5" selected> Firebot </option>
 </select>
</p>

Sometimes, a user has to select one or more items. This example shows such an interface.

<p>Select the songs from that you would like on your Act II Mix Tape:</p>
<select multiple required name="act2">
 <option value="s1">It Sucks to Be Me (Reprise)
 <option value="s2">There is Life Outside Your Apartment
 <option value="s3">The More You Ruv Someone
 <option value="s4">Schadenfreude
 <option value="s5">I Wish I Could Go Back to College
 <option value="s6">The Money Song
 <option value="s7">School for Monsters
 <option value="s8">The Money Song (Reprise)
 <option value="s9">There's a Fine, Fine Line (Reprise)
 <option value="s10">What Do You Do With a B.A. in English? (Reprise)
 <option value="s11">For Now
</select>

4.10.8 The `datalist` element

Flow content.

Where phrasing content is expected.

Either: phrasing content.

Or: Zero or more option elements.

Neither tag is omissible.

interface HTMLDataListElement : HTMLElement {
  readonly attribute HTMLCollection options;
};

The datalist element represents a set of option elements that represent predefined options for other controls. In the rendering, the datalist element represents nothing.

The datalist element can be used in two ways. In the simplest case, the datalist element has just option element children.

<label>
 Sex:
 <input name=sex list=sexes>
 <datalist id=sexes>
  <option value="Female">
  <option value="Male">
 </datalist>
</label>

In the more elaborate case, the datalist element can be given contents that are to be displayed for down-level clients that don't support datalist. In this case, the option elements are provided inside a select element inside the datalist element.

<label>
 Sex:
 <input name=sex list=sexes>
</label>
<datalist id=sexes>
 <label>
  or select from the list:
  <select name=sex>
   <option value="">
   <option>Female
   <option>Male
  </select>
 </label>
</datalist>

The datalist element is hooked up to an input element using the list attribute on the input element.

Each option element that is a descendant of the datalist element, that is not disabled, and whose value is a string that isn't the empty string, represents a suggestion. Each suggestion has a value and a label.

datalist . options: Returns an HTMLCollection of the options elements of the datalist element.

4.10.9 The `optgroup` element

None.

As a child of a select element.

Zero or more option and script-supporting elements.

An optgroup element's end tag can be omitted if the optgroup element is immediately followed by another optgroup element, or if there is no more content in the parent element.

disabled — Whether the form control is disabled

label — User-visible label

interface HTMLOptGroupElement : HTMLElement {
           attribute boolean disabled;
           attribute DOMString label;
};

The optgroup element represents a group of option elements with a common label.

The element's group of option elements consists of the option elements that are children of the optgroup element.

The disabled attribute is a boolean attribute and can be used to disable a group of option elements together.

The label attribute must be specified. Its value gives the name of the group, for the purposes of the user interface.

There is no way to select an optgroup element. Only option elements can be selected. An optgroup element merely provides a label for a group of option elements.

The following snippet shows how a set of lessons from three courses could be offered in a select drop-down widget:

<form action="courseselector.dll" method="get">
 <p>Which course would you like to watch today?
 <p><label>Course:
  <select name="c">
   <optgroup label="8.01 Physics I: Classical Mechanics">
    <option value="8.01.1">Lecture 01: Powers of Ten
    <option value="8.01.2">Lecture 02: 1D Kinematics
    <option value="8.01.3">Lecture 03: Vectors
   <optgroup label="8.02 Electricity and Magnestism">
    <option value="8.02.1">Lecture 01: What holds our world together?
    <option value="8.02.2">Lecture 02: Electric Field
    <option value="8.02.3">Lecture 03: Electric Flux
   <optgroup label="8.03 Physics III: Vibrations and Waves">
    <option value="8.03.1">Lecture 01: Periodic Phenomenon
    <option value="8.03.2">Lecture 02: Beats
    <option value="8.03.3">Lecture 03: Forced Oscillations with Damping
  </select>
 </label>
 <p><input type=submit value="▶ Play">
</form>

4.10.10 The `option` element

None.

As a child of a select element.

As a child of a datalist element.

As a child of an optgroup element.

If the element has a label attribute and a value attribute: Empty.

If the element has a label attribute but no value attribute: Text.

If the element has no label attribute: Text that is not inter-element whitespace.

An option element's end tag can be omitted if the option element is immediately followed by another option element, or if it is immediately followed by an optgroup element, or if there is no more content in the parent element.

disabled — Whether the form control is disabled

label — User-visible label

selected — Whether the option is selected by default

value — Value to be used for form submission

[NamedConstructor=Option(optional DOMString text = "", optional DOMString value, optional boolean defaultSelected = false, optional boolean selected = false)]
interface HTMLOptionElement : HTMLElement {
           attribute boolean disabled;
  readonly attribute HTMLFormElement? form;
           attribute DOMString label;
           attribute boolean defaultSelected;
           attribute boolean selected;
           attribute DOMString value;

           attribute DOMString text;
  readonly attribute long index;
};

The option element represents an option in a select element or as part of a list of suggestions in a datalist element.

In certain circumstances described in the definition of the select element, an option element can be a select element's placeholder label option. A placeholder label option does not represent an actual option, but instead represents a label for the select control.

The disabled attribute is a boolean attribute. An option element is disabled if its disabled attribute is present or if it is a child of an optgroup element whose disabled attribute is present.

The label attribute provides a label for element. The label of an option element is the value of the label content attribute, if there is one, or, if there is not, the value of the element's text IDL attribute.

The label content attribute, if specified, must not be empty.

The value attribute provides a value for element. The value of an option element is the value of the value content attribute, if there is one, or, if there is not, the value of the element's text IDL attribute.

The selected attribute is a boolean attribute. It represents the default selectedness of the element.

A select element whose multiple attribute is not specified must not have more than one descendant option element with its selected attribute set.

option . selected

Returns true if the element is selected, and false otherwise.

Can be set, to override the current state of the element.

option . index

Returns the index of the element in its select element's options list.

option . form

Returns the element's form element, if any, or null otherwise.

option . text

Same as textContent, except that spaces are collapsed and script elements are skipped.

option = new Option( [ text [, value [, defaultSelected [, selected ] ] ] ] )

Returns a new option element.

The text argument sets the contents of the element.

The value argument sets the value attribute.

The defaultSelected argument sets the selected attribute.

The selected argument sets whether or not the element is selected. If it is omitted, even if the defaultSelected argument is true, the element is not selected.

4.10.11 The `textarea` element

Listed, labelable, submittable, resettable, and reassociateable form-associated element.

Where phrasing content is expected.

Text.

Neither tag is omissible.

autocomplete — Hint for form autofill feature

autofocus — Automatically focus the form control when the page is loaded

cols — Maximum number of characters per line

dirname — Name of form field to use for sending the element's directionality in form submission

disabled — Whether the form control is disabled

form — Associates the control with a form element

inputmode — Hint for selecting an input modality

maxlength — Maximum length of value

minlength — Minimum length of value

name — Name of form control to use for form submission and in the form.elements API

placeholder — User-visible label to be placed within the form control

readonly — Whether to allow the value to be edited by the user

required — Whether the control is required for form submission

rows — Number of lines to show

wrap — How the value of the form control is to be wrapped for form submission

interface HTMLTextAreaElement : HTMLElement {
           attribute DOMString autocomplete;
           attribute boolean autofocus;
           attribute unsigned long cols;
           attribute DOMString dirName;
           attribute boolean disabled;
  readonly attribute HTMLFormElement? form;
           attribute DOMString inputMode;
           attribute long maxLength;
           attribute long minLength;
           attribute DOMString name;
           attribute DOMString placeholder;
           attribute boolean readOnly;
           attribute boolean required;
           attribute unsigned long rows;
           attribute DOMString wrap;

  readonly attribute DOMString type;
           attribute DOMString defaultValue;
  [TreatNullAs=EmptyString] attribute DOMString value;
  readonly attribute unsigned long textLength;

  readonly attribute boolean willValidate;
  readonly attribute ValidityState validity;
  readonly attribute DOMString validationMessage;
  boolean checkValidity();
  boolean reportValidity();
  void setCustomValidity(DOMString error);

  readonly attribute NodeList labels;

  void select();
           attribute unsigned long selectionStart;
           attribute unsigned long selectionEnd;
           attribute DOMString selectionDirection;
  void setRangeText(DOMString replacement);
  void setRangeText(DOMString replacement, unsigned long start, unsigned long end, optional SelectionMode selectionMode = "preserve");
  void setSelectionRange(unsigned long start, unsigned long end, optional DOMString direction);
};

The textarea element represents a multiline plain text edit control. The contents of the control represent the control's default value.

The readonly attribute is a boolean attribute used to control whether the text can be edited by the user or not.

In this example, a text field is marked read-only because it represents a read-only file:

Filename: <code>/etc/bash.bashrc</code>
<textarea name="buffer" readonly>
# System-wide .bashrc file for interactive bash(1) shells.

# To enable the settings / commands in this file for login shells as well,
# this file has to be sourced in /etc/profile.

# If not running interactively, don't do anything
[ -z "$PS1" ] &amp;&amp; return

...</textarea>

The cols attribute specifies the expected maximum number of characters per line. If the cols attribute is specified, its value must be a valid non-negative integer greater than zero.

The rows attribute specifies the number of lines to show. If the rows attribute is specified, its value must be a valid non-negative integer greater than zero.

The wrap attribute is an enumerated attribute with two keywords and states: the soft keyword which maps to the Soft state, and the hard keyword which maps to the Hard state. The missing value default is the Soft state.

The Soft state indicates that the text in the textarea is not to be wrapped when it is submitted (though it can still be wrapped in the rendering).

The Hard state indicates that the text in the textarea is to have newlines added by the user agent so that the text is wrapped when it is submitted.

If the element's wrap attribute is in the Hard state, the cols attribute must be specified.

The maxlength attribute is a form control maxlength attribute controlled by the textarea element's dirty value flag.

If the textarea element has a maximum allowed value length, then the element's children must be such that the code-unit length of the value of the element's textContent IDL attribute with the textarea wrapping transformation applied is equal to or less than the element's maximum allowed value length.

The minlength attribute is a form control minlength attribute controlled by the textarea element's dirty value flag.

The required attribute is a boolean attribute. When specified, the user will be required to enter a value before submitting the form.

The placeholder attribute represents a short hint (a word or short phrase) intended to aid the user with data entry when the control has no value. A hint could be a sample value or a brief description of the expected format.

The placeholder attribute should not be used as an alternative to a label. For a longer hint or other advisory text, the title attribute is more appropriate.

These mechanisms are very similar but subtly different: the hint given by the control's label is shown at all times; the short hint given in the placeholder attribute is shown before the user enters a value; and the hint in the title attribute is shown when the user requests further help.

The name attribute represents the element's name. The dirname attribute controls how the element's directionality is submitted. The disabled attribute is used to make the control non-interactive and to prevent its value from being submitted. The form attribute is used to explicitly associate the textarea element with its form owner. The autofocus attribute controls focus. The inputmode attribute controls the user interface's input modality for the control. The autocomplete attribute controls how the user agent provides autofill behavior.

textarea . type

Returns the string "textarea".

textarea . value

Returns the current value of the element.

Can be set, to change the value.

Here is an example of a textarea being used for unrestricted free-form text input in a form:

<p>If you have any comments, please let us know: <textarea cols=80 name=comments></textarea></p>

To specify a maximum length for the comments, one can use the maxlength attribute:

<p>If you have any short comments, please let us know: <textarea cols=80 name=comments maxlength=200></textarea></p>

To give a default value, text can be included inside the element:

<p>If you have any comments, please let us know: <textarea cols=80 name=comments>You rock!</textarea></p>

You can also give a minimum length. Here, a letter needs to be filled out by the user; a template (which is shorter than the minimum length) is provided, but is insufficient to submit the form:

<textarea required minlength="500">Dear Madam Speaker,

Regarding your letter dated ...

...

Yours Sincerely,

...</textarea>

A placeholder can be given as well, to suggest the basic form to the user, without providing an explicit template:

<textarea placeholder="Dear Francine,

They closed the parks this week, so we won't be able to
meet your there. Should we just have dinner?

Love,
Daddy"></textarea>

To have the browser submit the directionality of the element along with the value, the dirname attribute can be specified:

<p>If you have any comments, please let us know (you may use either English or Hebrew for your comments):
<textarea cols=80 name=comments dirname=comments.dir></textarea></p>

4.10.12 The `keygen` element

Listed, labelable, submittable, resettable, and reassociateable form-associated element.

Where phrasing content is expected.

Empty.

No end tag.

autofocus — Automatically focus the form control when the page is loaded

challenge — String to package with the generated and signed public key

disabled — Whether the form control is disabled

form — Associates the control with a form element

keytype — The type of cryptographic key to generate

name — Name of form control to use for form submission and in the form.elements API

interface HTMLKeygenElement : HTMLElement {
           attribute boolean autofocus;
           attribute DOMString challenge;
           attribute boolean disabled;
  readonly attribute HTMLFormElement? form;
           attribute DOMString keytype;
           attribute DOMString name;

  readonly attribute DOMString type;

  readonly attribute boolean willValidate;
  readonly attribute ValidityState validity;
  readonly attribute DOMString validationMessage;
  boolean checkValidity();
  boolean reportValidity();
  void setCustomValidity(DOMString error);

  readonly attribute NodeList labels;
};

The keygen element represents a key pair generator control. When the control's form is submitted, the private key is stored in the local keystore, and the public key is packaged and sent to the server.

The challenge attribute may be specified. Its value will be packaged with the submitted key.

The keytype attribute is an enumerated attribute. The following table lists the keywords and states for the attribute — the keywords in the left column map to the states listed in the cell in the second column on the same row as the keyword. User agents are not required to support these values, and must only recognise values whose corresponding algorithms they support.

Keyword	State
`rsa`	RSA

The invalid value default state is the unknown state. The missing value default state is the RSA state, if it is supported, or the unknown state otherwise.

This specification does not specify what key types user agents are to support — it is possible for a user agent to not support any key types at all.

The form attribute is used to explicitly associate the keygen element with its form owner. The name attribute represents the element's name. The disabled attribute is used to make the control non-interactive and to prevent its value from being submitted. The autofocus attribute controls focus.

keygen . type: Returns the string "keygen".

This specification does not specify how the private key generated is to be used. It is expected that after receiving the SignedPublicKeyAndChallenge (SPKAC) structure, the server will generate a client certificate and offer it back to the user for download; this certificate, once downloaded and stored in the key store along with the private key, can then be used to authenticate to services that use TLS and certificate authentication. For more information, see e.g. this MDN article.

To generate a key pair, add the private key to the user's key store, and submit the public key to the server, markup such as the following can be used:

<form action="processkey.cgi" method="post" enctype="multipart/form-data">
 <p><keygen name="key"></p>
 <p><input type=submit value="Submit key..."></p>
</form>

The server will then receive a form submission with a packaged RSA public key as the value of "key". This can then be used for various purposes, such as generating a client certificate, as mentioned above.

4.10.13 The `output` element

Flow content.

Listed, labelable, resettable, and reassociateable form-associated element.

Where phrasing content is expected.

Neither tag is omissible.

for — Specifies controls from which the output was calculated

form — Associates the control with a form element

name — Name of form control to use in the form.elements API

interface HTMLOutputElement : HTMLElement {
  [PutForwards=value] readonly attribute DOMSettableTokenList htmlFor;
  readonly attribute HTMLFormElement? form;
           attribute DOMString name;

  readonly attribute DOMString type;
           attribute DOMString defaultValue;
           attribute DOMString value;

  readonly attribute boolean willValidate;
  readonly attribute ValidityState validity;
  readonly attribute DOMString validationMessage;
  boolean checkValidity();
  boolean reportValidity();
  void setCustomValidity(DOMString error);

  readonly attribute NodeList labels;
};

The output element represents the result of a calculation performed by the application, or the result of a user action.

This element can be contrasted with the samp element, which is the appropriate element for quoting the output of other programs run previously.

The for content attribute allows an explicit relationship to be made between the result of a calculation and the elements that represent the values that went into the calculation or that otherwise influenced the calculation. The for attribute, if specified, must contain a string consisting of an unordered set of unique space-separated tokens that are case-sensitive, each of which must have the value of an ID of an element in the same Document.

The form attribute is used to explicitly associate the output element with its form owner. The name attribute represents the element's name.

output . value [ = value ]

Returns the element's current value.

Can be set, to change the value.

output . defaultValue [ = value ]

Returns the element's current default value.

Can be set, to change the default value.

output . type

Returns the string "output".

A simple calculator could use output for its display of calculated results:

<form onsubmit="return false" oninput="o.value = a.valueAsNumber + b.valueAsNumber">
 <input name=a type=number step=any> +
 <input name=b type=number step=any> =
 <output name=o for="a b"></output>
</form>

In this example, an output element is used to report the results from a remote server, as they come in:

<output id="result"></output>
<script>
 var primeSource = new WebSocket('ws://primes.example.net/');
 primeSource.onmessage = function (event) {
   document.getElementById('result').value = event.data;
 }
</script>

4.10.14 The `progress` element

Where phrasing content is expected.

Phrasing content, but there must be no progress element descendants.

Neither tag is omissible.

value — Current value of the element

max — Upper bound of range

interface HTMLProgressElement : HTMLElement {
           attribute double value;
           attribute double max;
  readonly attribute double position;
  readonly attribute NodeList labels;
};

The progress element represents the completion progress of a task. The progress is either indeterminate, indicating that progress is being made but that it is not clear how much more work remains to be done before the task is complete (e.g. because the task is waiting for a remote host to respond), or the progress is a number in the range zero to a maximum, giving the fraction of work that has so far been completed.

There are two attributes that determine the current task completion represented by the element. The value attribute specifies how much of the task has been completed, and the max attribute specifies how much work the task requires in total. The units are arbitrary and not specified.

To make a determinate progress bar, add a value attribute with the current progress (either a number from 0.0 to 1.0, or, if the max attribute is specified, a number from 0 to the value of the max attribute). To make an indeterminate progress bar, remove the value attribute.

Authors are encouraged to also include the current value and the maximum value inline as text inside the element, so that the progress is made available to users of legacy user agents.

Here is a snippet of a Web application that shows the progress of some automated task:

<section>
 <h2>Task Progress</h2>
 <p>Progress: <progress id="p" max=100><span>0</span>%</progress></p>
 <script>
  var progressBar = document.getElementById('p');
  function updateProgress(newValue) {
    progressBar.value = newValue;
    progressBar.getElementsByTagName('span')[0].textContent = newValue;
  }
 </script>
</section>

(The updateProgress() method in this example would be called by some other code on the page to update the actual progress bar as the task progressed.)

The value and max attributes, when present, must have values that are valid floating-point numbers. The value attribute, if present, must have a value equal to or greater than zero, and less than or equal to the value of the max attribute, if present, or 1.0, otherwise. The max attribute, if present, must have a value greater than zero.

The progress element is the wrong element to use for something that is just a gauge, as opposed to task progress. For instance, indicating disk space usage using progress would be inappropriate. Instead, the meter element is available for such use cases.

progress . position

For a determinate progress bar (one with known current and maximum values), returns the result of dividing the current value by the maximum value.

For an indeterminate progress bar, returns −1.

4.10.15 The `meter` element

Where phrasing content is expected.

Phrasing content, but there must be no meter element descendants.

Neither tag is omissible.

value — Current value of the element

min — Lower bound of range

max — Upper bound of range

low — High limit of low range

high — Low limit of high range

optimum — Optimum value in gauge

interface HTMLMeterElement : HTMLElement {
           attribute double value;
           attribute double min;
           attribute double max;
           attribute double low;
           attribute double high;
           attribute double optimum;
  readonly attribute NodeList labels;
};

The meter element represents a scalar measurement within a known range, or a fractional value; for example disk usage, the relevance of a query result, or the fraction of a voting population to have selected a particular candidate.

This is also known as a gauge.

The meter element should not be used to indicate progress (as in a progress bar). For that role, HTML provides a separate progress element.

The meter element also does not represent a scalar value of arbitrary range — for example, it would be wrong to use this to report a weight, or height, unless there is a known maximum value.

There are six attributes that determine the semantics of the gauge represented by the element.

The min attribute specifies the lower bound of the range, and the max attribute specifies the upper bound. The value attribute specifies the value to have the gauge indicate as the "measured" value.

The other three attributes can be used to segment the gauge's range into "low", "medium", and "high" parts, and to indicate which part of the gauge is the "optimum" part. The low attribute specifies the range that is considered to be the "low" part, and the high attribute specifies the range that is considered to be the "high" part. The optimum attribute gives the position that is "optimum"; if that is higher than the "high" value then this indicates that the higher the value, the better; if it's lower than the "low" mark then it indicates that lower values are better, and naturally if it is in between then it indicates that neither high nor low values are good.

The value attribute must be specified. The value, min, low, high, max, and optimum attributes, when present, must have values that are valid floating-point numbers.

In addition, the attributes' values are further constrained:

Let value be the value attribute's number.

If the min attribute is specified, then let minimum be that attribute's value; otherwise, let it be zero.

If the max attribute is specified, then let maximum be that attribute's value; otherwise, let it be 1.0.

The following inequalities must hold, as applicable:

minimum ≤ value ≤ maximum
minimum ≤ low ≤ maximum (if low is specified)
minimum ≤ high ≤ maximum (if high is specified)
minimum ≤ optimum ≤ maximum (if optimum is specified)
low ≤ high (if both low and high are specified)

If no minimum or maximum is specified, then the range is assumed to be 0..1, and the value thus has to be within that range.

Authors are encouraged to include a textual representation of the gauge's state in the element's contents, for users of user agents that do not support the meter element.

When used with microdata, the meter element's value attribute provides the element's machine-readable value.

The following examples show three gauges that would all be three-quarters full:

Storage space usage: <meter value=6 max=8>6 blocks used (out of 8 total)</meter>
Voter turnout: <meter value=0.75><img alt="75%" src="graph75.png"></meter>
Tickets sold: <meter min="0" max="100" value="75"></meter>

The following example is incorrect use of the element, because it doesn't give a range (and since the default maximum is 1, both of the gauges would end up looking maxed out):

<p>The grapefruit pie had a radius of <meter value=12>12cm</meter>
and a height of <meter value=2>2cm</meter>.</p> <!-- BAD! -->

Instead, one would either not include the meter element, or use the meter element with a defined range to give the dimensions in context compared to other pies:

<p>The grapefruit pie had a radius of 12cm and a height of
2cm.</p>
<dl>
 <dt>Radius: <dd> <meter min=0 max=20 value=12>12cm</meter>
 <dt>Height: <dd> <meter min=0 max=10 value=2>2cm</meter>
</dl>

There is no explicit way to specify units in the meter element, but the units may be specified in the title attribute in free-form text.

The example above could be extended to mention the units:

<dl>
 <dt>Radius: <dd> <meter min=0 max=20 value=12 title="centimeters">12cm</meter>
 <dt>Height: <dd> <meter min=0 max=10 value=2 title="centimeters">2cm</meter>
</dl>

The following markup:

<h3>Suggested groups</h3>
<menu type="toolbar">
 <a href="?cmd=hsg" onclick="hideSuggestedGroups()">Hide suggested groups</a>
</menu>
<ul>
 <li>
  <p><a href="/group/comp.infosystems.www.authoring.stylesheets/view">comp.infosystems.www.authoring.stylesheets</a> -
     <a href="/group/comp.infosystems.www.authoring.stylesheets/subscribe">join</a></p>
  <p>Group description: <strong>Layout/presentation on the WWW.</strong></p>
  <p><meter value="0.5">Moderate activity,</meter> Usenet, 618 subscribers</p>
 </li>
 <li>
  <p><a href="/group/netscape.public.mozilla.xpinstall/view">netscape.public.mozilla.xpinstall</a> -
     <a href="/group/netscape.public.mozilla.xpinstall/subscribe">join</a></p>
  <p>Group description: <strong>Mozilla XPInstall discussion.</strong></p>
  <p><meter value="0.25">Low activity,</meter> Usenet, 22 subscribers</p>
 </li>
 <li>
  <p><a href="/group/mozilla.dev.general/view">mozilla.dev.general</a> -
     <a href="/group/mozilla.dev.general/subscribe">join</a></p>
  <p><meter value="0.25">Low activity,</meter> Usenet, 66 subscribers</p>
 </li>
</ul>

Might be rendered as follows:

With the <meter> elements rendered as inline green bars of varying lengths.

User agents combine the value of the title attribute and the other attributes to provide context-sensitive help or inline text detailing the actual values.

For example, the following snippet:

<meter min=0 max=60 value=23.2 title=seconds></meter>

...might cause the user agent to display a gauge with a tooltip saying "Value: 23.2 out of 60." on one line and "seconds" on a second line.

The following example shows how a gauge could fall back to localised or pretty-printed text.

<p>Disk usage: <meter min=0 value=170261928 max=233257824>170 261 928 bytes used
out of 233 257 824 bytes available</meter></p>

4.10.16 The `fieldset` element

Flow content.

Sectioning root.

Listed and reassociateable form-associated element.

Where flow content is expected.

Optionally a legend element, followed by flow content.

Neither tag is omissible.

disabled — Whether the form control is disabled

form — Associates the control with a form element

name — Name of form control to use in the form.elements API

interface HTMLFieldSetElement : HTMLElement {
           attribute boolean disabled;
  readonly attribute HTMLFormElement? form;
           attribute DOMString name;

  readonly attribute DOMString type;

  readonly attribute HTMLFormControlsCollection elements;

  readonly attribute boolean willValidate;
  readonly attribute ValidityState validity;
  readonly attribute DOMString validationMessage;
  boolean checkValidity();
  boolean reportValidity();
  void setCustomValidity(DOMString error);
};

The fieldset element represents a set of form controls optionally grouped under a common name.

The name of the group is given by the first legend element that is a child of the fieldset element, if any. The remainder of the descendants form the group.

The disabled attribute, when specified, causes all the form control descendants of the fieldset element, excluding those that are descendants of the fieldset element's first legend element child, if any, to be disabled.

The form attribute is used to explicitly associate the fieldset element with its form owner. The name attribute represents the element's name.

fieldset . type: Returns the string "fieldset".
fieldset . elements: Returns an HTMLFormControlsCollection of the form controls in the element.

This example shows a fieldset element being used to group a set of related controls:

<fieldset>
 <legend>Display</legend>
 <p><label><input type=radio name=c value=0 checked> Black on White</label>
 <p><label><input type=radio name=c value=1> White on Black</label>
 <p><label><input type=checkbox name=g> Use grayscale</label>
 <p><label>Enhance contrast <input type=range name=e list=contrast min=0 max=100 value=0 step=1></label>
 <datalist id=contrast>
  <option label=Normal value=0>
  <option label=Maximum value=100>
 </datalist>
</fieldset>

The following snippet shows a fieldset with a checkbox in the legend that controls whether or not the fieldset is enabled. The contents of the fieldset consist of two required text fields and an optional year/month control.

<fieldset name="clubfields" disabled>
 <legend> <label>
  <input type=checkbox name=club onchange="form.clubfields.disabled = !checked">
  Use Club Card
 </label> </legend>
 <p><label>Name on card: <input name=clubname required></label></p>
 <p><label>Card number: <input name=clubnum required pattern="[-0-9]+"></label></p>
 <p><label>Expiry date: <input name=clubexp type=month></label></p>
</fieldset>

You can also nest fieldset elements. Here is an example expanding on the previous one that does so:

<fieldset name="clubfields" disabled>
 <legend> <label>
  <input type=checkbox name=club onchange="form.clubfields.disabled = !checked">
  Use Club Card
 </label> </legend>
 <p><label>Name on card: <input name=clubname required></label></p>
 <fieldset name="numfields">
  <legend> <label>
   <input type=radio checked name=clubtype onchange="form.numfields.disabled = !checked">
   My card has numbers on it
  </label> </legend>
  <p><label>Card number: <input name=clubnum required pattern="[-0-9]+"></label></p>
 </fieldset>
 <fieldset name="letfields" disabled>
  <legend> <label>
   <input type=radio name=clubtype onchange="form.letfields.disabled = !checked">
   My card has letters on it
  </label> </legend>
  <p><label>Card code: <input name=clublet required pattern="[A-Za-z]+"></label></p>
 </fieldset>
</fieldset>

In this example, if the outer "Use Club Card" checkbox is not checked, everything inside the outer fieldset, including the two radio buttons in the legends of the two nested fieldsets, will be disabled. However, if the checkbox is checked, then the radio buttons will both be enabled and will let you select which of the two inner fieldsets is to be enabled.

4.10.17 The `legend` element

None.

As the first child of a fieldset element.

Neither tag is omissible.